Want to help your advisers or even yourself get into peak performance state to achieve breakthrough in the final sprint? Jensen Siaw, author of "Change Your Inner Cards, Win the Outer Game", shares the Mental Preparation Routine (MPR) technique commonly used by sportsmen.
Importance of MPR
First of all, why is MPR important? Imagine you have secured five appoints for the day, which leaves you hopeful and motivated. But the first appointment of the day is unsuccessful, leaving you dejected and mentally bruised from the rejection. This is when MPR comes into critical play to ensure that you remain positive and in a peak performance state for the remaining appointments, instead of moping around in negativity.
According to Jensen, there are three elements to a MPR:
Emotion: Emotions are driving forces of our actions. The emotion that we hold affects the state of our mind and body. If a particular emotion enables you to deliver good performance, that emotion is what you would want to feel before you take on the next task or challenge. Somehow that emotion triggers your physiology to deliver a good performance.
Thought: Thoughts could be mental images or dialogue we have in our head. Before you head for an appointment, if you were to see yourself failing, you are setting your mind and body for failure. If you were to see yourself succeeding, you will feel more confident about doing well.
Focus: Focus can be a mental or visual anchor before an appointment. Many top performers across different fields have reported that they train their minds to focus on nothing but in the present moment. Focussing on the present moment enables them to stay away from negative emotions and respond effectively and efficiently to situations and challenges that may arise.
Designing an MPR
Here’s how you can help your advisers or yourself to design a MPR.
Think about a specific occasion or event where you completed a task very well – where you were feeling positive and the outcome was also positive. Once you have a specific event in mind, answer the following questions:
- What positive emotion were you feeling before the event/task?
- What were you thinking or saying to yourself before the event?
- What were you focusing on?
What was the emotion you were feeling? Was it being relaxed or was it a sense of excitement? What can be done to get into the same emotion? Soothing music? Rock music? How about a cup of tea?
What about thought or internal dialogue? Did you visualise the client signing on the dotted line? Did you say a prayer before your appointment? Do it as part of your MPR.
How about your focus? Were you chatting happily? Were you focused on the lyrics of your favourite music? For some people the last thing they want to focus on is the sale.
And now a newly designed MPR can be put together:
My Mental Preparation Routine
Step 1: What to do to get yourself feeling the same emotion?
Step 2: What to see and hear in your mind?
Step 3: What to focus on?
You can now go and test out your new MPR before taking on your next important appointment. Continue to revise and improvise until it works well for you all the time.
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